3 Day Workout Routine to Build Muscle & Strength

I've been working on a new three-day workout program and it's a little different from what I've been teaching over the last couple of years.

The reason I'm making this change is pretty simple. I want to see just how strong I can get across 5 key lifts.

I've always thought there was something incredibly impressive about someone who's relatively lean, but can lift an insane amount of weight.

And that's what I want to prioritize with my own training for the foreseeable future.

So I've put together a program that combines my usual approach to building muscle with a little more emphasis on developing maximum strength.

Now, I want to be clear, my other routines will absolutely make you stronger. But this one takes a slightly different approach. We're going to introduce something called a training max (talk more on it in a sec), while still following my usual approach to building muscle.

One important thing: I wouldn't recommend this program to complete beginners.

If you're brand new to lifting, I'd focus on building a solid foundation first. I've got plenty of free videos covering the fundamentals, and I also recently published my book, Average To Jacked, which explains exactly what to do in the gym and the kitchen to build muscle without overcomplicating things. It's a short, inexpensive read available worldwide on Amazon.

The Idea Behind This Program

There's a difference between building muscle and being able to demonstrate your maximum strength.

Having bigger muscles gives you more potential to lift heavier weights, but strength is also a skill.

Your nervous system needs to become better at recruiting muscle, coordinating movements, and handling heavier loads.

And one of the best ways to develop that skill is to practice lifting heavy.

So instead of completely changing the way I train, I'm adding what we'll call a training max at the beginning of each workout, followed by key muscle-building exercises.

What Exactly Is a Training Max?

First, don't confuse a training max with a true one-rep max.

Your one-rep max is the absolute heaviest weight you can lift for one repetition with proper technique. It's essentially a test of your maximum strength.

A training max, at least how we're using it in this program, is different.

We're going to perform one repetition with a relatively heavy weight, starting at approximately 85% of our true one-rep max, and gradually increase that weight over time.

For example, let's say the absolute most you can bench press for one repetition is 225 pounds.

Rather than attempting 225 pounds every workout, you'd begin with approximately 190 pounds.

You'd warm up, perform one controlled repetition with 190 pounds, and then move on to your regular muscle-building exercises.

The following week, assuming you completed that repetition with good technique, you'd increase the weight slightly.

The goal isn't to exhaust yourself or constantly test your limits. It's to become increasingly comfortable handling heavier weights while gradually improving your ability to lift them.

And here's why that matters.

Even though 85% of your maximum isn't the heaviest weight you're capable of lifting, it's still heavy enough to provide meaningful strength practice without the fatigue you'd get from your absolute max.

When you lift heavy weights, your nervous system has to recruit a large number of motor units, including high-threshold motor units that control some of your largest and most powerful muscle fibers.

And over time, practicing these heavy lifts can improve your neural efficiency, meaning your nervous system becomes better at activating your muscles, coordinating the movement, and producing force.

Over time, as you gradually increase your training max, you're practicing lifting progressively heavier weights without having to perform an all-out maximum attempt every workout.

Meanwhile, your remaining exercises continue providing the muscular work needed to build a bigger physique which will turn into a stronger physique.

That's the entire idea: become more efficient at using the muscle you already have while continuing to build more muscle that gives you greater potential to become stronger.

The 3-Day Workout Program

We'll follow a push, legs, pull split with at least one rest day between workouts.

Each workout begins with a training max. On push day, we'll alternate between the bench press and overhead press each week. On leg day, we'll alternate between squats and trap bar deadlifts.

Day 1: Chest, Shoulders & Triceps

Week 1: Bench Press Focus

• Flat Barbell Bench Press: 1 training max repetition

• Incline Machine Press

• Pec Deck

• Tricep Pushdowns

• Lateral Raises

Week 2: Overhead Press Focus

• Barbell Overhead Press: 1 training max repetition

• Incline Machine Press

• Pec Deck

• Tricep Pushdowns

• Lateral Raises

Day 2: Legs

Week 1: Squat Focus

• Barbell Squat: 1 training max repetition

• Trap Bar Deadlifts

• Leg Press

• Leg Curls

• Leg Extensions

• Calf Raises

• Cable Crunches

Week 2: Deadlift Focus

• Trap Bar Deadlift: 1 training max repetition

• Trap Bar Deadlift

• Leg Press

• Leg Curls

• Leg Extensions

• Calf Raises

• Cable Crunches

Day 3: Back & Biceps

Every Week

• Weighted Pull-Up: 1 training max repetition

• Lat Pulldowns

• Chest-Supported Rows

• Bicep Curls

• Rear Delt Flyes

• Neck Curls

For the muscle-building exercises, I personally perform one hard working set, usually between 6 and 15 repetitions, either reaching muscular failure or stopping once I've achieved progression.

If you prefer doing two or three working sets, that's completely fine.

How to Warm Up for Your Training Max

Before attempting your training max, gradually increase the weight in stages while reducing the number of repetitions.

For example, if you're working toward a 200-pound bench press, you might warm up with:

• Empty bar: 8–10 easy reps

• 100 pounds: 5 reps

• 150 pounds: 2–3 reps

• 185 pounds 1 rep

• 200 pounds: 1 training max repetition

The goal is to prepare your muscles, joints, and nervous system without exhausting yourself before the lift.

Rest approximately 2–3 minutes before attempting your training max, or longer if needed.

For your remaining muscle-building exercises, rest approximately 1–2 minutes between working sets, or long enough to perform at your best.

How to Progress on Your Training Maxes

This is probably the most important part of the program.

We're going to follow three simple rules.

1. Complete the Training Max repetition? Increase the weight next workout.

Let's say your training max on the bench press is 190 pounds.

If you successfully complete that repetition with proper technique, your goal next workout is to lift slightly more, maybe 192–195 pounds.

For upper-body movements, use the smallest increases possible. For most people, that might mean adding 2.5-pound plates to each side, although smaller microplates are even better.

For squats and trap bar deadlifts, you can initially increase by 5–10 pounds.

The smaller your increases, the more room you give yourself to continue progressing before eventually stalling.

And remember, we're only increasing the weight if the repetition is completed with proper technique. No bouncing the bar, cutting your range of motion short, or sacrificing form just to lift more weight.

2. Fail the repetition? Repeat the weight.

Let's say you've gradually worked your bench press training max up to 230 pounds, but you can't complete the repetition with good technique.

The next time you bench press, attempt 230 again.

3. Fail twice? Reduce the weight by 10%.

If you fail the same training max twice, reduce the weight by approximately 10% and begin building back up.

This doesn't mean you've lost the strength you've developed.

You're simply giving yourself room to work back up while continuing to build muscle through your other exercises.

And hopefully, by the time you reach that previous sticking point again, you're in a better position to surpass it.

Of course, progression won't continue indefinitely. As you become stronger, increases will naturally slow, and you may eventually need to make further adjustments.

How to Progress on Your Muscle-Building Exercises

For the remaining exercises, progression is even simpler.

Let's say you're incline dumbbell pressing 90 pounds in each hand for 10 repetitions, and that final repetition is complete muscular failure.

The following workout, you increase to 95-pound dumbbells and reset your target to six repetitions.

Even if you could perform seven, you can stop at six because you've already progressed by lifting a heavier weight for your target repetitions.

From there, gradually work your way back toward 10 repetitions before increasing the weight again.

And you don't have to increase your repetitions every single workout. As long as you're gradually improving your performance over time, you're moving in the right direction.

If you're performing multiple working sets, you can progress each set independently or wait until all your sets reach the top of your repetition range before increasing the weight.

The important thing is having a clear objective every time you walk into the gym and tracking your performance so you know whether you're improving.

This is the app I use to track all of my workouts https://www.joinhevy.com/7BZ2W/2CTPL/ (It's free btw) My username is AverageToJacked if you want to follow me and see my lifts.

Why I Like This Approach

What I like about this program is that I'm not abandoning the principles that have worked for me over the years and that I genuinely enjoy.

I'm still training just three days a week, 1 set to failure, giving myself plenty of recovery time, and focusing on basic exercises and progressive overload.

The only real difference is that I'm now dedicating a small portion of each workout to practicing my training maxes.

Those training maxes help develop my ability to demonstrate strength, while the remaining exercises help me continue building muscle and increasing my potential to become even stronger.

And that's really the entire system.

Five training max movements spread across three weekly workouts, followed by a handful of muscle-building exercises.

This entire routine will also be included in my Average To Jacked program, along with a spreadsheet that tracks your workouts and progression, app access, and several other workout routines depending on your experience level and equipment.

You'll also get access to my private community, where I personally answer members' questions and help them adjust their training. All you have to do is send me a message once you join and I'm happy to help in anyway I can along your journey.

-Eric

Grab a copy of my new book here: ​
​https://a.co/d/06PmUCDY​

Supplements I take (discount code: A2J) https://athlete.transparentlabs.com/2xo​

Workout App I Use (Follow me @ AverageToJacked)
​https://www.joinhevy.com/7BZ2W/2CTPL/​